90-year-old billionaire Dassault has been committed directly to trial without a preliminary inquiry on suspicion of hiding several million euros in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The hearing is scheduled for 4 July as reported by NDTV.
The Dassault group has a majority stake in Dassault Aviation, which makes commercial and military aircraft including the Rafael fighter jet used by French air force and navy and a number of other foreign armed forces. It also owns France’s primary right-wing newspaper Le Figaro.
Dassault, a member of the French Senate will also have to answer questions from the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), which keeps a record of the income sources of public figures. The HATVP had said last year that they had “serious doubts (about the) exhaustivity, exactitude, and sincerity” of Dassault’s filing.
Pegged at being the fourth wealthiest person in France, his net worth is an estimated 13.6 billion euros ($15.3 billion) by Forbes last year. He is also under investigation for a vote-buying scandal in the suburbs of Paris, where he was mayor.
He was charged with vote buying, complicity in illegal election campaign financing and overreaching campaign spending limits.
In November 2014, Dassault’s accountant revealed to investigators that he delivered close to 53 million euros in plastic bags to his boss.
Dassault has denied all charges.
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